Newsletter

House panel: Cut state employee pay 7.5%

Appropriations committee exceeds Brownback's cuts

A legislative spending panel backed cuts to the state budget Tuesday that are even deeper than those proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback, an effort conservatives say would provide a much-needed financial cushion.

The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure by a voice vote, sending it to the full House. The bill would reduce state employee salaries and wages, including elected officials and judges, by 7.5 percent through June 30. It also ends a pay program that sought to raise the wages of some state employees to that of their private-sector counterparts.

“The state is bleeding, and we have to start making some tough cuts,” said Rep. Anthony Brown, a Republican from Eudora.

Conservative Republicans make up the majority of the members of the budget-writing committee. In backing the spending cuts, they said it was important for Kansas government to realize as much savings as possible.

“The goal here is to move money to the bottom line,” said Rep. Pete DeGraaf, a Mulvane Republican.

As written, the bill would leave Kansas government with an ending balance of about $45 million as of June 30. Kansas faces a projected budget shortfall of $550 million in the next fiscal year.

Jane Carter, spokeswoman for the Kansas Organization of State Employees, said the cut in state employee pay and eliminating the planned increases in the current and future years sends the wrong message.

“To cut their pay is a disgrace to the services that state employees provide,” Carter said.

She said the cuts would end a bipartisan agreement reached in previous years to raise state employee wages comparable to the private-sector jobs. Carter predicted some state employees would leave government work if the cuts weren’t restored.

The 7.5 percent cut in wages would save state government more than $16 million, but half of that money would be retained by the Kansas Board of Regents to be used to fund deferred maintenance projects on college campuses.

It is unclear how quickly the House will debate the spending bill. Senators are working on their own version in committee. Both bills would have to be reconciled and approved by both chambers before going to Brownback. The Republican governor has asked that the cuts be on his desk by the end of the month, if possible.

The plan also reduces aid to the 289 public school districts by $75 per pupil this year, reducing the amount from $4,012 to $3,937, or approximately $86 million.

The committee rejected an effort to increase funding by more than $16 million for the current year to avoid possible loss of federal funding for special education in 2013.

Democrats said Kansas could lose as much as $70 million in future budget years if it didn’t maintain its funding levels for education as required by the federal stimulus act. The act required states to maintain its education budgets at 2006 levels in exchange for receiving federal stimulus dollars over the past two years.

“I think the governor should be concerned that members of his side of the aisle don’t have faith in him being able to bring a rescission bill that he worked on to pass,” said Rep. Bill Feuerborn, a Garnett Democrat and ranking minority member on the appropriations committee. “Why take a chance of losing almost $70 million in education funding?”

Landon Fulmer, Brownback’s policy director, said it was unclear if Kansas would be penalized for not spending more on education, adding that the state did receive a waiver in previous years from the federal government when state spending levels dropped.

One cut would eliminate state tax dollars for publications and membership dues for agencies, including membership in the National Council of State Legislatures. Committee members suggested the fees be paid from other sources. Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican, is scheduled to become president of NCSL in August.